Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin admitted that his side needs to sharpen up in possession after losing 2-0 to Celtic at Pittodrie.

“The way we defended in the first half and how we created the transitions was quite okay. The problem we have right now is the last pass or the last decision when we arrive at the box and we did not arrive with enough players to really hurt them.

“Celtic defend transitions really well, but we need to be a little more on the edge there, arriving with better positions because we have some chances to punish them, but we couldn’t do it.

“We know they’re going to have the ball a lot, I think we were good against that, but when we have the ball, we have to be better ourselves. We have to break the lines better instead of ending up playing backwards. Even if they press well, we still have to be a bit more comfortable with the ball in these tight areas to break their lines. That’s my responsibility to keep working on this in the training sessions and help the players to take this next step as a team, as we need to do.

“We need to support our attackers better with more players. They are quite alone in these areas, everybody has to take a step forward in our performance right now. That’s my job and my coaching staff’s job to help the players take this step, but we have work to do.

“You want to get some points in the early part of the season, of course, but we haven’t been good enough right now. The performance has been OK, but not enough to get points. In both games, we have to score three to win. In football, everything is connected, so we have to be more stable to give us the opportunity to win games also.

“We need to be better and stronger as a team. We still have work to do there. One part is still the training, but also part is the recruitment. Everybody is working really hard to find the right player and bring him to Aberdeen, so let’s see what’s going to happen.”